The concept of Belonging in a national context refers to “being rightly placed” in a society – to know that you deserve to be recognized by a country, to feel as if you are recognized. There is a dual aspect of you belonging to the country (that “it” has some expectation of you, can judge you, can change you) and the country belonging to you (that you can have expectation of it, can judge it, can change it).

The degree to which you feel all of these things as a citizen or resident of Canada can be determined by many factors from birthplace to personality but there is no doubt that these feeling affect your connection to Canada, your happiness in being here and your willingness to participate in building its future.

1.Describe your feelings of Canadian Belonging, why they might be this way and how they have affected your life.

2.In what ways could you say strong feelings of Belonging are a positive? A negative?

3.In what ways could a lack of Belonging be a positive? A negative?

4.Do you view your sense of Belonging as changing or static? What circumstances lead to this?

5.Some view having innate feelings of Canadian belonging conveyed by first to be a form of privilege. That being so sure of your belonging blinds you to others’ struggles to belong.

6.With HAT embarking on a Sponsorship Agreement for a Syrian Family a important questions might be:

·is it worthwhile to have a plan to try to engender a sense of belonging in our Family? How might we accomplish this if we wanted to?

·Is it enough to cater to their physical well-being and leave them to sort their mental needs out for themselves?

For more background, listen to this fascinating audio presentation from CBC Radio’s “Ideas” program